Allentown pastor faces more charges of passing bad checks

Robert C. Hester has a history of the crime and is also wanted in Bucks County and Camden County, N.J.

December 17, 2012|By Manuel Gamiz Jr., Of The Morning Call

An Allentown pastor has been charged with writing checks on empty church bank accounts, the third time he's been accused of passing bad checks in Lehigh County, according to court documents.

Robert C. Hester, 27, with no current address, wrote nine bad checks from April to November worth almost $11,700, according to court records. Some of the checks were for payroll and were cashed, while others were used to pay for goods or services, police said.

During an interview with Allentown police, Hester admitted that he wrote out the checks knowing that the funds were depleted in the accounts of the Pneuma Life Center and the Maranatha House of Refuge and Recovery, the two churches Hester ran in Allentown.

Hester was arraigned by District Judge Michael D'Amore on Friday and charged with nine counts of passing bad checks. He is currently in Lehigh County Prison. Hester was charged twice before with passing bad checks in Lehigh County, as part of an ongoing investigation.

According to a criminal complaint, Hester wrote out some of the checks for his payroll at the church, and others to pay for auto detailing. Other checks were written out to a management company, a development company and two checks worth $4,200 to an Allentown auto dealership, police said.

Hester was charged on Dec. 3 with passing four checks for about $275 to pay for gas in October in South Whitehall Township, according to court records.

On Nov. 26, he was charged with passing 10 bad checks on two empty church accounts, using them on car repairs, groceries and to buy a cellphone. The checks were written between January and October and were worth more than $8,000, police said.

He waived his right to a preliminary hearing on those charges and is awaiting trial in Lehigh County Court.

In addition to his local charges, authorities say Hester has active warrants in Camden County, N.J., for allegedly passing bad checks, and in Bucks County on a bad checks charge. According to court records, Hester has three convictions in New Jersey for writing bad checks in the past five years.